Old West Nostalgia and New West Politics on Route 66
Frank Barry, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg Opinion) Nearly everyone we told about our cross-country trip on the Lincoln Highway asked: Are you going to Yellowstone? No, we would say, the Lincoln Highway doesnât run through it, and we wanted to visit Americaâs forgotten towns, not its favorite parks. But as the question kept coming, my wife Laurel and I could sense people thinking: Whatâs wrong with you?
In looking for Lincolnâs spirit and what binds Americans together, we also knew that Lincoln laid the foundation for Yellowstone and the national park system that is beloved by liberals and conservatives alike. In 1864, he signed the first legislation setting aside land â in Californiaâs Yosemite Valley â for âpublic use, resort, and recreation.â We had hoped to visit Yosemite after completing the Lincoln Highway in San Francisco, but the forecast called for snowstorms and temperatures i